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Tips for First-Generation College Applicants

Dr. Michele Hernandez is the former assistant director of admissions at Dartmouth College, co-founder of Application Boot Camp On-Demand, and the author of several books on college admissions.

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Dr. Michele HernandezCredit

If you’re among those who are applying to college as a first-generation student (meaning your parents never attended college) and you’re hesitant to talk about your parents’ educational attainment, you’re not alone. Thirty percent of entering freshmen in the United States are first-generation college students.

I field college admissions questions from thousands of families, and notice that first-generation students are often reluctant to identify themselves as such. They may feel slightly ashamed of the situation or think it is irrelevant.

But instead of hiding this critical information, first-generation students should highlight it. Why? Many colleges track this nonacademic statistic. The class of 2015 at Dartmouth College has 108 first-generation students, and 14 percent of the University of Pennsylvania’s class of 2016 are first-generation college students.

Admissions officers seek a diverse student body and want to hear about the forces that have shaped a student’s life, including if you are the first in your family to attend college.

Here are a few additional tips for first-generation college applicants:

Define ‘First-Generation’

The National Center for Education Statistics defines first-generation students as “undergraduates whose parents never enrolled in postsecondary education.” But it’s always best to check a particular school’s understanding of first generation.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for instance, defines first-generation students as “…those who will be the first in their family to graduate from a four-year college,” implying that if a parent attended a two-year college, the student could still be considered first generation.

If only one of your parents attended college, you may not be considered a first-generation college applicant. However, if you have a sibling who attended college, and your parents did not, in most cases you will be considered a first-generation student.

Complete Optional Application Sections

The additional information section on the Common Application is an ideal place for you to write an essay that highlights how your life has been shaped by having parents who did not attend college. It is also an opportunity to demonstrate what attending college means to you, given your background. By opting out of this section, you lose a chance to set yourself apart from your peers.

Look for Resources at Your School

Statistics show that first-generation students often need more support. Nationally, 89 percent of low-income first-generation students leave college within six years without a degree. More than a quarter leave after their first year — four times the dropout rate of higher-income second-generation students.

Unfortunately, many first-generation college applicants don’t have parental support to help guide them through the application process. Seek help by contacting the admissions office at your prospective colleges to ask if they have programs, guides or other resources for first-generation students.

If a college representative is visiting your high school for an information session, use the opportunity to meet the representative and identify yourself as a first-generation student. This will help you build personal connections and may lead to personalized support during your college admissions process.

Do you have admissions advice for first-generation college applicants? Please share your thoughts in the comments box below.

First generation and first time college students can get a personalized estimate of their financial aid eligibility and costs by using colleges’ net price calculators before applying to colleges. Students can know which NPCs generate the most accurate, and therefore most reliable, aid, net price and out of pocket cost estimates by the number of questions it asks. NPCs that ask 30 to 40 questions, which takes about 10 minutes to answer, are the most fine-tuned for accuracy. About 1,500 colleges have posted NPCs whose estimates are reliable for college planning. But many colleges did build their NPCs using a basic federal template that relies on two-year-old info and asks only 12 questions. While those NPCs offer net price and aid eligibility estimates, they often over estimate costs.

Some of the most sophisticated NPCs have a one click Spanish translation.

Net price is a college’s total cost (sticker price) minus free grant aid. Sophisticated NPCs calculate also determine out-of-pocket costs which is Net Price minus ‘self help’ financial aid such as federal education loans and work study. Some even estimate military aid for qualified students. Receiving military aid does not reduce the amount of college merit or need-based aid one can receive from institutional, state and federal sources.

Many of these first generation students are Hispanic/Latino students. The biggest problem they often face is the lack of understanding of the educational system which is a problem for their parents as well and it usually relates to the lack of resources available in Spanish that explain that. New Futuro has all that information in Spanish and English. It is a good resources as starting point for Latino families. Share with Latino families: http://www.NewFuturo.com

I noticed a couple of glaring omissions (or oversights) in the article. First, the author could obtain a clear definition of first-generation by referencing federal legislation under the Higher Ed Opportunity Act, Sec 402A(g). Second, the author fails to mention one resource designed specifically to assist first-generation students to prepare for, succeed in, and graduate from college, i.e., TRIO programs. These federally, grant-funded programs have existed since the late 60s/early 70s and have a proven track record of increasing access to and success in postsecondary education for first-generation and low-income students, see: http://www.coenet.us.

First-generation college students and their families can get assistance in filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. New Jersey College Goal Sunday is a free event that takes place this Sunday, Feb. 17, between 1 and 4 p.m. at NJIT in Newark, and at nine other locations statewide on Sunday, Feb. 24. For further information and to register, please visit njcollegegoalsunday.org. Snow date for all events is March 3, 2013.

An excellent resource for First generation sudents is the Center for Student Opportunity at csopportunity.org. They offer a multitude of resources for students & counselors& more importantly feature colleges who are actively seeking first generation students, Another helpful feature are the student blogs where first gen students can learn about obstacles, roadblocks & triumphs of other first gen students. Having the ability to connect with other first gen students helps in making attending college seem more like a reality. I wish that such a resource existed when I was a first generation student!

Finally, a college that was overlooked in this article was Stanford University which not only welcomes & helps to finance first generation students as part of its diversity efforts, but to my knowledge has an Office for First Generation Students. I applaud this effort as extremely progressive in its recognition that this population of students has different needs that need to be addressed.